Downtown Jacksonville’s NorthCore is getting a rare new office bet, and a big-name broker is front and center. Developer Gateway Jax has selected global firm JLL to handle leasing for a planned Class A office tower of roughly 100,000 square feet, the first newly built multi-tenant office building in this corner of downtown in more than 20 years. Gateway Jax says the project is being designed with bright floorplates, outdoor terraces and hospitality-style shared spaces to lure tenants that want walkable, amenity-rich downtown space.
According to the Jacksonville Business Journal, Gateway Jax picked JLL to lead leasing for what the outlet describes as a 100,000-square-foot Class A tower. JLL’s own leasing brochure pegs the building at about 98,000 square feet across six stories, with flexible floorplates ranging from roughly 16,000 to 27,000 square feet, plus outdoor terraces and a lobby styled more like a hotel than a traditional office.
What Pearl Square Will Add
The office project is slated to rise inside Gateway Jax’s multi-block Pearl Square neighborhood, a major mixed-use redevelopment that pairs new housing with retail, parks and public plazas, according to Pearl Square. Local reporting from News4JAX notes that the first phase is expected to bring in restaurants, beer gardens and thousands of jobs, a combo that could give downtown’s after-work scene a serious boost.
Why Developers Are Betting On Flight To Quality
Gateway Jax principal Bryan Moll has been open about not flooding the market with new office space, but he argues there is still appetite for smaller, higher-end product. "We're not building a lot of it, first and foremost," Moll told the Jax Daily Record. That focus on selective, high-quality space feeds into the broader "flight to quality," where tenants trade older buildings for newer, brighter, amenity-heavy offices that help justify the commute.
Leasing Timeline And Team
JLL is set to lead marketing and leasing for the tower, with local materials listing Michael Loftin, Jesse Shimp and Mack Keasler as the primary contacts on the assignment. The firm’s brochure highlights a mix of suite sizes, access to terrace spaces and a parking ratio of roughly 3 spaces per 1,000 square feet, an offer that is clearly tailored to professional services and tech tenants as Gateway Jax works to secure anchor and pre-lease commitments.
Choosing JLL to run point is a visible show of confidence in downtown Jacksonville’s broader redevelopment push, but whether this new office product fills up will come down to leasing velocity and how firmly employers lean back into in-person work. Market watchers say pre-lease activity will be the key early tell on whether Pearl Square’s office component can sustain real downtown momentum, a dynamic Colliers has spotlighted in its coverage of urban core development across the region.
